Airport extreme disrupting ethernet connectivity?

Yes, we also have had a recent problem where we were using an Airport to extend our wifi. Last week the speed was so slow that we went out and bought a newer model to see if that was the reason. Since we installed it, all networks have been terribly slow and dropping out altogether. Today I unplugged the Airport completely and now the original network is stronger and faster than before... I would like to know why this is happening and if it has to do with specific settings in the Airport (that I guess we don't even need).

Cable company switched out router and suggested we wire our connection to improve speed and it worked.

For a business I agree wholeheartedly.. wireless is not reliable enough for running a business.

The issue I'm still having is that in spite of being wired to cable router my service still drops. When this happens I've tried unplugging Extreme (electrical plug) and found that multiple times this has instantly (within 3-5 seconds) restored my wired connection to proper speed. I plug extreme back in and things are fine for a little while but within 30 minutes-2 hours service drops again and we start over.

The actual setup here is crucial.. the cable company has replaced your modem and I presume installed a modem router.

The AE should be bridged to the modem router.. and it should be set to create a wireless network. But if you need specifics we need to know what model AE and what firmware.. as well as what modem router was installed.

So is it possible that the extreme is able to eat up bandwidth or be doing something improper that's causing my wired connections to suffer in spite of being wired to cable company router and NOT the extreme?

In the wrong mode.. ie extend wireless plus plugged in by ethernet the AE will crash the network.. you need to get expert in to fix it if you don't understand networks.

Yes, we also have had a recent problem where we were using an Airport to extend our wifi.

You need to give details.. Apple routers cannot extend wireless from non-apple routers.

Since we installed it, all networks have been terribly slow and dropping out altogether.

You have a wrong setting somewhere.

We need to know what is the main modem.. make and model and the main router.. if it is separate.

We need to know what mode you are running the apple router in. What Apple router is it??

I would like to know why this is happening and if it has to do with specific settings in the Airport (that I guess we don't even need).

To help you we need to know the exact mode you are using.

But if it is a modem router the apple router MUST be plugged into that by ethernet..

The apple router MUST create a wireless network.. and it must be set to not interfere with the main modem wireless network.. usually just auto can manage this but if not you should set it to specific channels..

eg main modem runs 2.4ghz wireless on channel 6.. then set the airport to use channel 11. The airport is also using 5ghz and you can set that to 149.. mostly the modem router will not have 5ghz unless very new.

Thanks, I didn't know that they couldn't be on the same channel and that is probably what caused the disruptions. As it turns out we don't really need the Airport at all--apparently our U-Verse hub was always strong enough to reach all parts of the house but our original Airport must have been causing interference due to the settings making us think we needed another wifi hub on the other side of the house. All is good now!

I have the exact problem and can replicate. The only thing I can think of is that my neighbors recently got xfinity and it broadcasts for public users. I use the AExtreme in bridge mode and run an Aexpress to extend the network. The channels are set to be automatic. When I run a ping to the router packets drop the second I plug in the AExtreme and stop dropping when I unplug it. Could changing channels fix this? I have current firmware on the extreme. It is hard to believe that it just failed out of the blue. It is less than a year old.

It is always worth removing all the automatic and control everything manually.

Reset the AE to factory and redo the setup.. follow these rules. It is not all required but it can help track down the issue.

Factory reset universal

Power off the AE.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the AE to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.

Setup the AE again.

Setup from the computer with Mavericks--Yosemite--ElCapo. (MYELCAP)

1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.

eg AEgen5 for basestation and AEwifi wireless name.

If the issue is wireless use AE4ghz and AE5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round. ie plan on a first and second round of changes to fix this.. hopefully.. I will point out other steps that can be round2.

2. Use all passwords that also comply with 1. but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.

3. If the AE is main router you can skip this point. This is only an issue when the AE is bridged.

Ensure the AE always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the AE. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when MYELCAP cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking.

If you don't understand this one.. ignore it for now.. but it will come back to bite you in the future so ask.

4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.

5. If you have hard disk plugged into the AE.. Mount the AE disk in the computer manually.

In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,

Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the AE ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).

You can use name.. SMB://AEgen6.local where you replace AEgen6 with your AE name.. local is the default domain of the AE and doesn't change.

However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the AE.

6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only. Do the same for ethernet if you use it.

There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.

You might need to do some more work on the computer itself. eg Reset the NVRAM/PRAM/SMC.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7306452?answerId=29202159022#29202159022&ac_cid=ha123456#29202159

It is hard to believe that it just failed out of the blue. It is less than a year old.

The AC model extreme has proven somewhat unreliable.. especially if you have the wrong cable modem router setup.. it gets very fussy.